Seven Southwestern students — economics and studio art double major Asin Allavudeen ’27, economics and business major Cody Diez Jennings ’27, biochemistry major Jade Cindy Foka ’28, computer science and psychology double major Alyanna Martinez ’27, computer science and economics double major Juan Martinez Varela ’27, political science major Emma Sanchez ’29, and economics and business major Elias Sarwana ’27 — were selected to compete in the 2026 HSI Battle of the Brains (BOTB), held September 28–October 2 in Austin. This national interdisciplinary competition challenges student teams to tackle a complex business and technology problem in just 24 hours, requiring them to research the problem, develop an innovative and technically feasible solution, and create a business plan and presentation. The week also includes company visits, professional development, and recruiting opportunities with major employers, including Dell Technologies, Thrivent, CrowdStrike, eBay, The Home Depot, and Electronic Arts. Solutions are evaluated by industry experts on both their business and technical merits, with the seven highest scoring teams advancing to the finals. Southwestern was selected as one of those finalists and earned the highest business score in the competition! In addition, Diez Jennings received a scholarship from eBay, marking the second consecutive year a Southwestern student has received an eBay scholarship through the competition. The team was supported throughout the selection, preparation, and competition process by the Office of Student Life, Office of Academic Affairs, Director of the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center & Head of Distinctive Collections Megan Firestone, Director of Student Engagement Jacorey Patterson, Assistant Dean of the Faculty & Professor of Spanish Laura Senio Blair, Board of Visitors Member Zoe Thompson, and team advisors: Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development Adrian D. Ramirez, Associate Professor of Spanish Abby Dings, and Professor of Business Debika Sihi.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently published an edited book with former SU instructor Jenny Nissel titled Teaching High-Impact Courses in Psychology, which covers the teaching of HIPs such as FYS, capstone, community-engaged learning, study abroad, internships, and careers courses. The book is available here.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci went to the LXIX Congreso Nacional de Ciencias Fisiológicas in Veracruz, Mexico to present “Puberty Suppression and the Brain” as part of the Symposium “The Sexual Brain,” funded by the International Brain Research Organization.

Wilhelmina Cullen Robertson Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett and psychology graduate Joshua Marquez ’26 recently published an article in Health Psychologytitled “Sexual Chemistry: Examining the Associations between Sexual Activity and Diurnal Cortisol.”

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented a poster titled “Update on the Parental Investment (PI) Scale” at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS) in Pittsburgh, PA. This is her latest presentation of data associated with creating a new scale to measure parental effort, inviting feedback prior to conducting the final validation study this summer in SURF.

Assistant Professor of Feminist Studies Meagan Solomon and psychology major and feminist studies minor Karla Vazquez ’26 attended the 2026 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Conference in San Antonio. They attended many illuminating sessions that bridged Chicanx studies, feminism, and anti-imperialist praxis, including workshops on Chicanx-Palestine solidarity and Chicana feminist zine-making.

Mathematics and psychology alumna Daniela Beckelhymer ’20 has been named the 2026–2027 American Mathematical Society (AMS) Congressional Fellow, in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Beckelhymer expects to complete her Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota this May. The Fellowship is for a year on Capitol Hill to support a congressional committee or a member of Congress by providing a mathematical or technical perspective. More information is available here.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci, along with several students and alumni, published an article titled “Chronic testosterone enanthate or estradiol benzoate affects sexual behavior and motivation in Long-Evans rats tested for partner preference” in Physiology and Behavior. This work was supported by summer research programs (SCOPE ’24 and SURF ’25) and conducted by psychology and biology capstone students. Raylee Bowling ’27 is first author, followed by Chance Bauer ’26, Iva Irabor-Ighedosa ’26, Kai Wilson ’26, and Anna Pavlova ’28. Alumna Alex Avila ’25 and visiting scholar Kole Petersen, a student from Colorado College, were also co-authors. This project tested a model of gender-affirming hormone therapy in an animal model.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, along with psychology graduate Madeline Bollinger ’24, psychology graduate and Coordinator of the Professor John Score Learning Commons Laurel Mulkey ’24, and biology graduate Vy Nguyen ’23, have published a paper titled “Hooked on a feeling: Psychological and physiological responses to ASMR triggers” in the journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior. This article is based on three years worth of SCOPE projects and is published with open access here.

Professor of Anthropology Melissa Johnson and her Summer 2025 SURF students presented their findings at the 13th Race, Ethnicity and Place conference in Albuquerque, NM from November 5–7. Their panel was titled “Race, Gender, Slavery and Freedom in Everyday Life on the British coast of Central America, 1750-1830.” Dr. Johnson and three students presented their papers: anthropology and feminist studies double major Dina Gaxiola ’28 presented “The Case of Jane Trapp: Race, Gender, Slavery and Freedom in Early British Central America,” psychology and sociology double major Sophia Hernandez ’28 presented “From Enslavement to Influence; Gendered Agency, Racial Boundaries, and the Story of Ariadne Broaster,” Dr. Johnson presented “Living across lines of freedom in the early history of Belize: The origins of the Bonner family,” and biology and environmental studies double major Shae Whitney ’28 presented “Maria Middleton – Slave, Criminal, Transported Convict: Understanding Gender, Race and Freedom across the British Colonial World.” The students may have been the only undergraduates presenting papers at this conference. The papers were well received, with one audience member sharing that this was the most interesting panel they had attended.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci and psychology alumnus Ian Klepcyk ’24 collaborated with colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin to finally complete a four year long project that was accepted for publication in Hormones and Behavior, titled “Chronic periadolescent leuprolide exposure affects the expression of multiple genes in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland with a different pattern of expression in female and male Long-Evans rats.” This project is one of the first studies to investigate changes in the brain associated with exposure to puberty blockers for a prolonged period of time in an animal model.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci co-chaired and presented a workshop at the annual meeting of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, titled “Moving Forward: A Workshop on Issues Facing Transgender Research (Models, Community, and Funding),” in addition to a poster presentation, titled “Chronic periadolescent leuprolide exposure affects the expression of multiple genes in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland with a different pattern of expression in female and male Long-Evans rats,” co-authored by psychology graduate Ian Klepcyk ’24.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented a talk titled “The Parental Effort Scale: Creation and Validation” at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) in Atlantic City, NJ in June. The talk described the 2+ year process of designing a new psychological instrument with SU psychology capstone students.

Several psychology faculty members and students presented posters at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in Denver this past weekend. Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett, along with current capstone students Clayton Crusius ’25 and Sarah Doroshow ’25, presented a poster, titled “Self-Expanding in a Virtual Reality World,” at the main conference. Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, along with current capstone students Samantha Gonzalez ’25, Gwen Metz ’25, Georgia Micknal ’25, and Griffin Salinas ’25, presented a poster titled “A Labor of Love (Mostly): Developing a Self-Perceived Parental Effort Scale” at the Evolutionary Psychology Pre-Conference.

Three faculty and an alumnus participated in the 2025 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle, WA from January 8-12. Associate Professor of Mathematics John Ross presented “Fast-flipping a Calculus 3 Class using AI help” in the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Contributed Paper Session on “Using AI in Mathematics Instruction.” This was sponsored by the MAA special interest group on artificial intelligence. Professor and Garey Chair of Mathematics Alison Marr served on a panel to talk about the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) Summer Program (edgeforwomen.org). The panel was sponsored by IGEN, the Inclusive Graduate Education Network, which is a part of the National Science Foundation’s INCLUDES alliance: Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science. Marr has been Co-Director of the EDGE Summer Program since 2020. Associate Professor of Mathematics Therese Shelton presented “ODEs and the Flu” in the American Mathematical Society (AMS) Special Session on “Modeling Matters in Teaching and Learning Differential Equations,” sponsored by SIMIODE. Computational mathematics and psychology alumna Daniela Beckelhymer ’20 co-organized the AMS Special Session on “Math Research Community Climate Science at the Interface between Topological Data Analysis and Dynamical Systems Theory.” Beckelhymer has completed the M.S. in Mathematics and is working towards a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Minnesota.

Eunice Mexicano ’25 moderated the First Generation Perspectives Panel at Southwestern University, which featured panelists Riley Wolfe ’25, Elvis Marin ’26, Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, and Director of the Professor John Score II Learning Commons Maurice Wilson as part of First Generation College Celebration Week 2024.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano published an article with several current SU undergraduates, including Georgia Micknal (first author) ’25, Samantha Gonzales ’26, Lauren Levee ’27, Gabrielle Fullard ’27, and Kalista Esquivel ’26. The article is titled “(Don’t) hit me up: The effects of initiator gender and setting on perceptions of date initiation” and will be published in the December issue of the North American Journal of Psychology.

Recent graduate Ian Klepcyk ’24 and Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci published one of two submitted entries in the Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior, published by Springer. This entry also includes videos Ian filmed in the lab as a companion to the written submission. The entry can be read here.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and her students, Lainey Gutierrez ’25, Jaxson Haynes ’25, Maryn Medlock ’25, Cassidy Reynolds ’25, and Lauren Sanders ’24, presented a poster titled “Developing the Self-Perceived Parental Effort Scale (SPES)” at the annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science in San Francisco, CA on May 25.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano has a chapter entitled, “Making Personal Connections with Social Psychology,” appearing in the forthcoming book (to be published in August), Teaching Social Psychology.

French and psychology double major Sarah Woods ’21 is now a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, studying cognition and neural science in the department of psychology. She was recently selected as a recipient of the prestigious and nationally competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations to Sarah and her SU faculty champions who prepared her for this next step!

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano published an article entitled “Successfully publishing with undergraduate coauthors in psychology: Insights from faculty with top track records.” Coauthors are former students Will Hebl ’23 and Jennifer Howell ’09. The article can be read here.

Several Psychology faculty members and students presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in San Antonio. Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano and student Megan Muskara ’24, presented a poster titled “Identifying predictors of the psychological benefits of travel.” Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and students Lainey Gutierrez ’25, Jaxson Haynes ’25, Maryn Medlock ’25, Cassidy Reynolds ’24, and Lauren Sanders ’24 presented a poster titled “Developing the Self-Perceived Parental Effort Scale (SPES).” Assistant Professor of Psychology Karen Lara and students Mara Strohl ’25, Paige Chapman ’25, Tessa Elizondo ’24, Jessica Metcalf ’25, Hailey Brisco ’25, and Ashten Wheeler ’25 presented a poster titled “Children’s and Adults’ Reasoning About How Expected Wait Time Influences Preferences and Emotions.”

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano presented a poster titled, “Using ‘Personal Connections’ Writing Assignments in Introductory Psychology,” at the annual meeting of the Society for Teaching of Psychology in Portland, Oregon, Oct 6-8.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci was invited to give a talk at the symposium titled Gender Incongruence at the 63rd annual meeting of the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology in den Hague, Netherlands, in September. The talk “Animal Models of Transgender Care: Advantages and Drawbacks” was well received by a mostly clinical audience.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano published an article entitled, “How common is undergraduate publication in psychology? An examination of faculty vitae from top colleges and universities.”Coauthors are former students Will Hebl ’23 and Jennifer Howell ’09.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux has accepted an invitation to join the Editorial Board of the interdisciplinary journal Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. This biannual publication focuses on evolutionary approaches to sociocultural aspects of life such as the arts, humanities, philosophy, history, and pop culture.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, along with alumni Alyssa Sucrese ’21, Erica Burley ’22, Sarah Woods ’21, and Zach Bencal ’21, have published a paper titled “Just friends? Jealousy of extramarital friendships” in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences (after nearly a year and a half ‘in press’!). This article is based on the group’s Capstone research.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and alumna Sarah Woods ’21 presented a poster titled “Parental Burden Predicts Jealousy in Married Individuals” at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) in Palm Springs, CA, at the beginning of June. This work reflects Sarah’s capstone research at SU (she is currently in graduate school at the University of Utah).

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and students Madeline Bollinger ’24, Laurel Mulkey ’24, and Vy Nguyen ’23 presented a poster titled “Calm Yourself Up? Converse Effects of ASMR on Heart Rate and GSR” at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in Atlanta this past weekend. This reflects work completed during SCOPE 2022.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano and psychology major Will Hebl ’23 presented a poster entitled “How Common is Undergraduate Publication in Psychology” at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Atlanta, Georgia, this past weekend.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently delivered a “Guest Expert Webinar” for the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. Her presentation was titled “Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Publishing with Undergraduates.” The NCFDD’s mission is to provide underrepresented faculty at member schools with on-demand access to mentoring, tools, and support to thrive in academia– including help with planning, productivity, healthy relationships, and work-life balance.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano participated at the 4th Annual College Readiness Symposium (Breaking Barriers, Growing Generations) sponsored by the Austin ISD and held at St. Edwards University on Saturday, Feb 11th. Dr. Giuliano gave two sessions of a presentation called “A Professor’s Tips for Succeeding in College.”

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci and current students Megan Kelly ’23, Amanda Gale ’23, Jasmine Belfield ’23, and Natalie Williams ’25, as well as alums Layla Avendano ’22, Cler Estoestra ’22, Brooke Frohock ’21, Lily Yepez ’22, and Bernard Sencherey ’22, recently published the article “Chronic periadolescent leuprolide exposure affects the development of reproductive physiology and behavior of female and male rats differently, but both mature after treatment termination” in Biology of Sex Differences.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano published an article titled “A Three-Pronged Approach for Teaching Psychology Students to Understand and Avoid Plagiarism” in Teaching of Psychology.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci coauthored an article with Layla Avendano ’22, Isabel Candelario ’21, Cler Estoesta ’22, Brooke Frohock ’21, Kate Davis ’20, Megan Kelly ’23, Matt Oevermann ’21, Bernard Sencherey ’22, Erin Toro ’21, and Hannah Valdivia ’22 that was accepted for publication by Physiology & Behavior.The project, titled “Daily GnRH Agonist Treatment Effectively Delayed Puberty in Female Rats without Long-Term Effects on Sexual Behavior or Estrous Cyclicity,” was supported by a grant from the American Psychological Foundation. Part of the work also was supported by SCOPE funding.

Allison Hewett ’22, Vy Nguyen ’22, and Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented a poster at the Western Psychological Association 102nd Annual Convention, held April 27–May 1 in Portland, Oregon. This poster, titled “Who Gets the Tingles? Modeling ASMR Predictors,” represents their work during SCOPE 2021.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano’s article “High Impact: Examining Predictors of Faculty-Undergraduate Coauthored Publication and Presentation in Psychology” was published in the journal PLOS ONE. All three coauthors, Isham Kimbell ’21, Emily Olsen ’20, and Jennifer Howell ’09, were current or former undergraduates at the time the research was conducted.

Alumna Alyssa Sucrese ’21, Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, and current student Erica Burley ’22 presented a poster titled “Just Friends? Jealousy Attributions for Extramarital Friendships” at the 2022 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, held virtually and in person February 16–19.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, along with collaborator Jaime Cloud of Western Oregon University, published two articles in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences: “This Old Thing? Responding to Compliments Depends on Sex and Relative Status” and “The Relationship between Mating Context and Women’s Appearance Enhancement Strategies.”

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci was recently awarded the American Psychological Foundations 2021 Division 1–Society for General Psychology Mary Whiton Calkins Grant. The grant will support research on the development of an animal model of puberty delay and gender-affirming hormone treatment to better understand the long-term outcomes of puberty suppression and adult hormone treatment in the context of gender transition. Mary Whiton Calkins was the first woman to preside as president of the American Psychological Association in 1905.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci recently published an article that was a collaboration across three countries investigating the patterning of male sexual behavior in two strains of rats. The article, “Male Rat Sexual Behavior: Insights from Inter-Copulatory Intervals,” was published in Behavioral Processesthis month.

Associate Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux  has accepted a position on the editorial board of the new Journal of Social Psychology Research ( JSPR ) . JSPR  is a fully open-access journal that functions as an outlet for pioneering integrative frameworks toward existing social psychology theories and concepts. This journal aims to deliver theoretical and empirical papers based on interpersonal relationships at the level of individuals and social groups. The editors encourage submissions on substantial interdisciplinary research on the theory, content, models, directions and problems of social psychology developments.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and her capstone students, Zack Bencal ’21, Erica Burley ’22, Alyssa Sucrese ’21, Sarah Woods ’21, and Michael Vitullo ’20, presented a poster titled “Just Friends? An Evolutionary Perspective on Jealousy and Extramarital Friendships” at the (virtual) annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society on June 25, 2021. Their poster was selected as one of the 12 finalists in the conference poster competition. You can watch Perilloux’s three-minute poster talk here. A copy of the poster is available here.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Karen Lara had an article titled “This Is Not What I Expected: The Impact of Prior Expectations on Children’s and Adults’ Preferences and Emotions” recently published in the journal Developmental Psychology.

Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett ’05, Tyler Norman ’20, and Monique Pollmann (Tilburg University) published the article “Reading between the Lines: The Effects of Texting on Relationship Satisfaction and Understanding in Romantic Couples” in Computers in Human Behavior Reports.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Sydnor was a panelist, presenter, chair, and discussant for several sessions at the (virtual) Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting. The highlights included presenting her work on students’ physiological reactions to controversial speech on campus, a collaborative project with Emily Tesmer ’20 and Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett ’05, and participating in a roundtable on “Polarization, Animosity, and Violence in American Politics.” Senior political science major Emily Gilby ’21 also presented her honors thesis, “Institutional Barriers to Youth Voter Turnout,” at the conference.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, along with collaborator Jaime Cloud of Western Oregon University, had two articles recently accepted for publication in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences: “The Relationship between Mating Context and Women’s Appearance Enhancement Strategies and “This Old Thing? Responding to Compliments Depends on Sex and Relative Status.” 

Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett published an article with colleagues in the Netherlands titled “Does Attachment Style Moderate the Effect of Computer-Mediated versus Face-to-Face Conflict Discussions?” The article was published in the journal Personal Relationships.  For more information, click here .

Kate Davis ’20 and Hannah Hanson ’22 conducted a SCOPE project under the supervision of Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci, which was recently published in Physiology & Behavior. This collaboration also involved Jessica Bolton ’10, who will soon begin a tenure-track position at Georgia State University. Davis, a current graduate student in the Department of Neuroscience at The University of Texas at Austin, designed the project, and together, the team found that using an animal model of poverty caused long-term deleterious effects on reproductive physiology and behavior. Neonatal poverty disrupted maternal behavior, which accelerated physiological maturation in females but delayed sexual maturation in males. However, both male and female rats displayed enhanced sexual motivation. These results have implications for precocious sexual behavior and disrupted puberty in children who are born into poverty. This research was also supported by a Sam Taylor Award. 

Recent alumni Maryam Ali ’20, Michael Broyle  ’20, Kate Davis  ’20, Chantal Gonzalez  ’19, Devon Lucero  ’19, and Lainey Stary  ’19 and Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci  published a new research project investigating the long-term effects of neonatal exposure to a component of soy (genistein) on male and female reproductive physiology and behavior in the journal Behavioural Pharmacology.  Although this research was conducted in rats, it suggests that there may be some consequences of feeding neonates soy-based formula.

For the first time, members of Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci’s  team of researchers, the Guarraci Lab, had two articles accepted for publication as companion papers in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior.  These two papers reflect a collaboration between the Guarraci Lab and Sarah Meerts from Carleton College and her student. The SU coauthors include current psychology major Shannon Odell  ’20; recent psychology graduates Kate Davis  ’20, Wes Clemmons  ’20, and Beth Henneman  ’20; Maryam Ali  ’19 (biology); as well as alumnae Chantal Gonzalez  ’19 (psychology) and Devon Lucero  ’19 (animal behavior). The first article is titled “I. Antidepressants and Sexual Behavior: Weekly Ketamine Injections Increases Sexual Behavior Initially in Female and Male Rats.” This work was supported by multiple SCOPE awards and a Sam Taylor Award. The second article is titled “II: Antidepressants and Sexual Behavior: Acute Fluoxetine, but not Ketamine, Disrupts Paced Mating Behavior in Sexually Experienced Female Rats.”

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented a poster with her collaborator Dr. Jaime Cloud (Western Oregon University) at the evolutionary psychology pre-conference at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in New Orleans, LA. You can download an image of the poster, “Women with Attractive Faces Want it All,” here.

Daniela Beckelhymer ’20 and Emily Thompson ’22 presented “Who Feels the Tingles? The Emotional Side of ASMR” at the emotion pre-conference with Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in New Orleans, LA. This poster is based on work completed on a 2019 SCOPE project.

Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett presented a poster with students MacKenzie Maddox ’19, Athena Pinero ’20, and Aaron Mink ’21 titled “Is Emotional Suppression All Bad? The Consequences Associated with Suppressing Negative and Positive Emotions” at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in New Orleans, LA. This research was the result of a faculty-student research project in the summer of 2019.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano presented a poster titled “A 3-Pronged Approach for Teaching Psychology Students to Understand and Avoid Plagiarism” at the teaching pre-conference of the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in New Orleans, LA.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci, Chantal Gonzalez ’19,  Devon Lucero’19, Kate Davis’20, and Sarah Meerts, an associate professor of neuroscience and psychology at Carleton College, published a longitudinal study in the journal Current Aging Science titled “Sexual Behavior Is Enhanced by Regular, Repeated Mating Behavior from Young Adulthood to Middle Age in Female Long-Evans Rats.”

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci was invited to contribute to a special issue on the neuroscience of sexual motivation in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. She wrote a review article on her lab’s contributions to the field titled  “‘What a Girl Wants’: What Can We Learn from Animal Models of Female Sexual Motivation?” with her collaborator Russell J. Frohardt.

Maddie Straup ’18, Justin White ’18, Sarah Butterworth ’18, Delaney Dunn ’18, Kayla Tate ’19, and Alexandra Guermeur ’18 coauthored a manuscript titled “I Knew You’d Understand: How Gendered Expectations of Understanding Affect Stress” that has been accepted for publication in the interdisciplinary journal Personal Relationships.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci  served as senior panelist and advisory board member during a four-day workshop for BRAINS (Broadening the Representation of Academic Investigators in NeuroScience) in Seattle, WA. BRAINS is a National Institutes of Health–sponsored program for professional development and community building among underrepresented postdoctoral fellows and new faculty in the neurosciences.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano  recently completed work guest editing a special issue in the journal Frontiers in Psychology  on the topic “Engaging Undergraduates in Publishable Research: Best Practices.” The editorial, which contains links to all 43 articles, can be found here . A faculty-development lunchtime discussion on the topic of publishing with undergraduates will be held on Friday, October 4 from 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, with her collaborator Dr. Jaime Cloud from Western Oregon University, published an article titled “Mate-by-Numbers: Budget, Mating Context, and Sex Predict Preferences for Facial and Bodily Traits” in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux, together with psychology alumnus Justin White ’18, published a review of Gil Rosenthal’s book Mate Choice: The Evolution of Sexual Decision Making from Microbes to Humansin the journal Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented two posters with SU students at the 31st annual Human Behavior & Evolution Society conference on May 31, 2019:

• “Friend or Foe: How Familiarity of the Competition Affects Female Intrasexual Competition” was presented by Ella Doss ’19, Emily Olson ’20, Carin Perilloux, and Dr. Gregory Webster of theUniversity of Florida.
• “General Mate Value Scale (GMVS): Creation and Assessment​” was presented by Emma Partain ’21, Grace Cruse ’21, Malia Bell ’19, and Carin Perilloux.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently published a paper titled “The Writing Spiral: A Practical Tool for Teaching Undergraduates to Write Publication-Quality Manuscripts” in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently published a paper titled  “Guiding Undergraduates Through the Process of First Authorship” in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano, together with psychology alumni Sarah Butterworth ’18, Justin White ’18, Lizette Cantu ’17, and Kyle Fraser ’17, published the article “Sender Gender Influences Emoji Interpretation in Text Messages” in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano, together with psychology alumni Sarah Butterworth ’18, Justin White ’18, Lizette Cantu ’17, and Kyle Fraser ’17, published the article “Sender Gender Influences Emoji Interpretation in Text Messages” in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Becca Northwas interviewed about her recent book on the podcast “Something You Should Know.” The episode aired on March 24.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux presented a poster with collaborators at the Evolutionary Psychology Preconference at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Portland, OR, on Feb. 7, 2019. The poster, “Does Humility Breed Likability? Perceptions of Compliment Givers and Receivers by Status and Modesty,” presented results from her study of how we perceive others who respond modestly or boastfully to compliments, depending on the relative status of the compliment-giver.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently participated in Cultural Day at Austin’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, giving three interactive classroom presentations on the psychology of sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano presented a poster titled “Guiding Undergraduates through the Process of First Authorship” at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Portland, Feb. 7–9.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano gave a presentation at the annual Austin AVID College Readiness Symposium held at St. Edward’s University, Feb. 2. Her talk was titled “Things I Wish My Students Knew before Coming to College: A Professor’s Guide to Success.”

Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Becca North’s book Your Hidden Superpowers: How the Whole Truth of Failure Can Change Our Lives  as published by Severn River Publishing in December 2018.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux was interviewed on the YouTube channel The Dissenter (Portugal) about her research on sexual-interest perception, physical attractiveness, and more. You can watch the interview here.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently had two papers published in the Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures. The “Attitudes toward Polyamory Scale” was coauthored with alums Sarah Johnson ’13, Jordan Herselman ’13, and Kevin Hutzler ’13. The “Sexual Novelty Scale” was coauthored with alums Sarah Matthews ’17, Marissa Rosa ’18, Kayleigh Thomas ’18, and Brooke Swift ’18.

Psychology alumnae Sarah Matthews ’17 and Marissa Rosa ’18 had an article accepted for publication in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Their paper, “Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs: Research and Publishing from the Undergraduate Perspective,” was based on their work in the research lab of Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano, together with psychology alums Sarah Matthews ’17, Marissa Rosa ’18, Kayleigh Thomas ’18, Brooke Swift ’18, Nicki Ahearn ’16, Aaron Garcia ’17, Skylar Smith ’16, Casey Niblett ’16, and Maddie Mills ’17, published an article titled “The Battle against Bedroom Boredom: Development and Validation of a Brief Measure of Sexual Novelty in Relationships” in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano recently coauthored a paper with Alan Swinkels (St. Edwards University) titled “An Effective Project for Teaching Repeated-Measures Designs” in the journal Teaching of Psychology.

Heather Rice ’17, Roanne Schoubaki ’17, Paige Womble ’18, Chantal Gonzalez, class of 2019, Devon Lucero, class of 2019, and Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci published a manuscript titled “Recreational Dose of Methylphenidate, but Not Methamphetamine, Decreases Anxiety-Like Behavior in Female Rats” in Neuroscience Lettersthis July.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano, together with psychology alums Sarah Matthews’17, Kayleigh Thomas ’18, Maddie Straup ’18, and Martin Martinez ’18 published an article titled “Not cool dude: Perceptions of solicited vs. unsolicited sext messages from men and women” in the journal Computers and Human Behavior. A summary of the study can be found here.

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci, together with current Psychology and Animal Behavior students Chantal Gonzalez, class of 2020, Devon Lucero,Morgan Stinnett, both class of 2019, alumni Paige Womble ’18, Heba Abdel-Rahim ’17, Jennie DeVore ’17, Emma Quadlander ’17,  and a collaborator from St. Edward’s University, Associate Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Jessica Boyette-Davis, published an article in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior,“The Effects of Ketamine on Sexual Behavior, Anxiety, and Locomotion in Female Rats,” investigating the effects of ketamine on sexual behavior. They found that a dose and protocol used for treating human depressive symptoms not only had no disruptive side-effects on sexual function, but actually improved sexual motivation in an animal model.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and several students recently published an article titled “Creative Casanovas: Mating Strategy Predicts Using—but Not Preferring—Atypical Flirting Tactics” in Evolutionary Psychological Science. This paper documents a series of studies conducted over a year and a half examining unexpectedness in flirting behaviors. Justin White ’18, Helena Lorenz ’18, and Aliehs Lee ’17 are co-authors.

Professor of Psychology Carin Perilloux and her WOU collaborator, Jaime Cloud, presented a poster with two students at the Western Psychological Association annual convention in Portland, Ore., on April 28, 2018. The poster was titled “Mate-by-numbers: Budget, mating strategy, and sex determine preferences in partner’s facial and bodily traits.” Justin Whiteand Helena Lorenz,both class of 2018, co-authored the presentation.

Several Psychology faculty members and students presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in Houston April 7–8. Students presenting with Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano included:

• Kirk Zanetti, Taylor Torres, both class of 2020, and Athena Pinero, class of 2019: “Now that’s aggressive: Examining the relationship between political orientation and political flaming.”
• Sarah Butterworth, Justin White, Kyle Fraser, all class of 2018, and Lizette Cantu, class of 2019: “Is he flirting with me? How sender gender influences emoji interpretation.”
• Allison Cook, Rachel Allen, Winston Cook, all class of 2018, and Daniella Orces, class of 2019: “ Emoji manners: Perceptions of students’ and teachers’ emoji use in emails.”
• Kate Davis, Dean Neubek,class of 2019, and Emily Olson, class of 2020: “Fake smiles, faker accounts: The relationship between life satisfaction and Finstagram use.”
• Sarah Butterworth, Rachel Allen, and Allison Cook, all class of 2018: “Blogging a way out: A study of depression and Tumblr usage.”

Students presenting with Associate Professor of Psychology Bryan Neighborsincluded:

• Rachel Allen, Matthew Gonzales, both class of 2018, Kaylyn Evans ’16, and Purna Bajekal ’16: “Attachment Insecurity and Cognitive Distortions Among Offenders in Substance Treatment.”

Students presenting with Assistant Professor of Psychology Carin Perillouxincluded:

• Helena Lorenz and Justin White, both class of 2018: “ Creative Casanovas: Mating strategy predicts using — but not preferring — unusual flirting tactics.”

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano was an invited presenter at LASA (Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy) high school in Austin last week. She spoke as part of their Cultural Awareness Day on the topic of gender and sexual orientation.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano gave an invited presentation, “Things I wish my students knew before they came to college,” at the Austin ISD’s AVID College Readiness Symposium held at St. Edward’s University.

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano and seven of her students presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in San Antonio March 31–April 2. Sarah Matthews, Class of 2017, Kayleigh Thomas, Maddie Straup, and Martin Martinez, all Class of 2018, presented “Not cool, dude: Perceptions of solicited vs. unsolicited sext messages from men and women”; and Marissa Rosa, Brooke Swift, and Helena Lorenz, all Class of 2018, presented “LOL, ILY: The effects of textspeak and gender on dating profile perceptions.”

Several Psychology students and faculty presented their work at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Jan. 19–21 in San Antonio.

• Aaron Garcia, Class of 2017, Skylar Smith ’16, Nicki Ahearn ’16, Casey Niblett ’16, and Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano presented “The battle against bedroom boredom: Sexual novelty and sexual satisfaction in relationships.”
• Michael Gallegos, Class of 2017, Marieke Visser ’16, Najmu Mohseen ’16, Deisy Gonzales ’16, Cameron Smeltzer ’16, and Assistant Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett presented “When the Pen becomes the Cure: The physiological impact of suppression and expression.”
• Julie Swets, Class of 2018, Roanne Shoubaki ’16, and former Southwestern Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Laura Hennefield presented “Feminism and Attractiveness: Feminist Speech Boosts Attractiveness in Females and Lowers Attractiveness in Males.”

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci and a number of her students recently published an article titled “An Acute, Non-Therapeutic Dose of Methylphenidate Disrupts Partner Preference in Female Rats” in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior describing the effects of a high dose of methylphenidate on sexual motivation in female rats. This research was supported by the HHMI program during the previous two years. Alexa Gomez, Class of 2017, and alumni Alex Petrucci ’16 and Jessica Morales Valenzuela ’15 are co-authors.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Sydnor and Assistant Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett ’15 received a grant from the American Political Science Association’s Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs. The grant will support their research on physiological reactions to political incivility.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Laura Hennefield and nine of her students presented research posters at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in Dallas.

• Marieke Visser, Class of 2016, presented “Childhood Competitiveness Predicts Social Anxiety In College Students.”
• Issa El Hage, Class of 2017, and Roanne Shoubaki, Class of 2017, presented “Happiness In Past, Present, and Future: The Relationship Between Gratitude and Optimism.”
• Abigail Wilson, Class of 2018, Marguerite Doran, Class of 2018, and Amy Goodman, Class of 2018, presented 
”What Makes a Leader? The Relationship Between Leadership, Optimism, and Social Anxiety.”
• Kuhen Smith, Class of 2017, presented “The Relationship Between Academically Reckless Behavior and Optimism in College Students.”
• Eric Blumenschein, Class of 2017, and Morgan Kelly, Class of 2018, presented “Generosity Within the American Political Sphere: The Relationship Between Liberalism and Generosity.”

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano and eight of her students presented papers at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association in Dallas this past weekend.

• Sarah Matthews, Class of 2017, and Kayleigh Thomas, Class of 2018, presented “It’s All About Me: Narcissism as a Predictor of Love Languages,” and won a Psi Chi research award for their poster.
• Aaron Garcia, Class of 2017, presented “Do As I Do: Expressions and Desires of the Five Love Languages.
• Marissa Rosa, Class of 2018, and Delaney Dunn, Class of 2018, presented “Frisky Business: The Role of Self-Monitoring in Public Touch.”
• Helena Lorenz, Class of 2018, Maddie Straup, Class of 2018, and Matt Gonzales, Class of 2018, presented “Be Yourself (Or Your Mom): Parents’ and Offsprings’ Love Languages.”

Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci’s research conducted over the past two summers as part of the HHMI SCOPE summer research program titled “Exposure to Methylphenidate during Peri-adolescence Affects Endocrine Function and Sexual Behavior in Female Long-Evans Rats” has been recently published in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Co-authors include current student Christina Crandall as well as a number of Psychology and Animal Behavior alumni: F. A., Holifield, C. Morales-Valenzuela, J., Greene, K., Brown, J., Lopez, R., Crandall, C., Gibbs, N., Vela, R., Delgado, M.Y., Frohardt, R.J.

Professor of Chemistry Maha Zewail-Foote and Professor of Psychology Fay Guarraci have an article currently in press called “Sexual Attractiveness in Male Rats is Associated with Greater Concentration of Major Urinary Proteins Biology of Reproduction.”

Professor of Psychology Traci Giuliano co-authored two articles (with alumni Kevin Hutzler, Sarah Johnson and Jordan Herselman) that were recently accepted for publication in the journal Psychology & Sexuality: “Three’s a crowd: Public awareness and (mis)perceptions of polyamory” and “Development of a brief measure of attitudes towards polyamory.”

Fay Guaracci, professor of psychology, has an article in the September issue of Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. The article, titled “Endocannabinoid influence on partner preference in female rats,” was co-authored by 2014 graduates Nicoletta Memos, Rebekah Vela and Courtney Tabone.

Erin Crockett, assistant professor of psychology, co-authored an article titled “LifeWorks Resolution Counseling Program: The effectiveness of a non-punitive violence rehabilitation program” that has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Family Violence.

Four faculty members have been selected to be Community-Engaged Learning Fellows for the 2014-2015 academic year and will receive special mentoring from the Office of Civic Engagement on how to integrate community-engaged learning into their classes. The new fellows are Erin Crockett, assistant professor of psychology; Abby Dings, associate professor of Spanish; Katherine Prater, assistant professor of education; and Carl Robertson, associate professor of Chinese. Read more about the program here.